Childhood Memories and a Happy Birthday
by animedreams4ever
Summary: It's Yuuta's birthday and he's thinking about some old memories that he had when he was a kid...


Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I would love to, though!

Nya, this fic is just a lil happy birthday wish for Yuuta…I have a soft spot for Yuuta since I think that it's really sweet, the brother relationship between him and Fuji…So here you go, Yuuta! Happy birthday!

**Happy Birthday, Yuuta**

Yuuta was pissed. Very pissed.

Why? He woke up late this morning and was late to school. He had to receive detention for it, making him go home at 5 instead of 3. Stupid teacher!

Not to mention that during tennis practice, Yanagisawa had hit a ball that went out of control and slammed into his face. His face was still sore from the impact.

Yuuta kicked the door to his house open. The entire day was just a disaster. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't bring himself to hate the day.

Looking at the calendar, Yuuta saw that it was February 18th. His birthday. Throughout the day, the tennis members of St. Rudolph had mentioned a happy birthday to him. Yuuta was happy that he was forgotten, and that cheered him up a bit, but right now, he was feeling down. Yumiko-neesan was out of town, working. His mother wasn't going to be home for a week. He knew it was selfish of him, but sometimes, he really wished if his family would just pay more attention to him.

Ever since he was a kid, everything was always dependent on his aniki, Syusuke. He still remembered the times when Syusuke would take the beatings for him…

_Nine year old Yuuta swung his tennis racket, playing on the tennis court alone. His ball hit the net. Frowning, Yuuta tried again. The result was the same. What was he doing wrong?_

_Sighing, Yuuta put down his racket. Maybe it was best that he take a break._

_A menacing shadow approached him. Looking up, Yuuta saw that it was one of the neighborhood kids. _

"_Hey, kid," said the older boy, "You sure suck at tennis,"_

_Yuuta said nothing. He picked up his racket and was heading to leave._

"_Oh, you think you can just run away? Wow, you're a bigger wimp than I thought you were," provoked the bully, "Just like your brother,"_

_That made Yuuta snap. Turning around, he faced the older boy. No one was going to call him or his aniki bad names._

_WHACK!_

_Yuuta landed on the ground, air knocked out of him. What had just happened? All he remembered was that he was preparing to fight, and the bully raised a fist and the next moment, Yuuta was sent flying._

_Looking up, Yuuta saw that the bully was in front of him again. _

_The bully grinned, "You really ARE a wimp," he said. He raised up a fist and prepared to land another punch on Yuuta._

"_Stop!" _

_Yuuta blinked. It was aniki. Syusuke had ran in between him and the bully, arms spread apart, protecting Yuuta._

"_Don't you dare touch my brother!" said Syusuke._

Yuuta sat on the couch, thinking back into his memories. Aniki had always been behind his back, watching out for him and protecting him. He was happy that he had such a caring brother. However, when he went into junior high, everything changed. Everyone called him "Fuji Syusuke's little brother". He got sick of the name. Why couldn't they call him Yuuta? He had a real name! Not just some family relationship name. Why couldn't they understand?

"_Aniki," said Yuuta, "Why did you do it? You didn't have to,"_

_It pained Yuuta to see Syusuke beat up so badly. Yumiko-neesan was bandaging ten year old Syusuke's arm. Syusuke simply smiled and said, "I'm your brother, Yuuta. I can't let bullies hurt you,"_

"_I'm not a baby," sulked Yuuta._

_Syusuke laughed, "It doesn't matter if you are one or not. To me, you're my brother. I care about you, Yuuta,"_

"_Aniki…"_

The lights clicked on.

"Yuuta,"

Yuuta looked up. It was aniki, "What are you doing, aniki?"

"Saa, sorry that I didn't return home any sooner,"

"Uhn,"

"Hungry?"

"Yeah,"

"Come into the kitchen, then,"

Yuuta silently dragged his feet into the kitchen.

He stopped.

On the table was a cake. There were the words, "Happy Birthday, Yuuta!"

At first, Yuuta couldn't say anything.

"Aniki…"

"Happy Birthday, Yuuta. Sorry I took so long,"

"…Thanks,"

A/N: Wheee, HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUUTA! RR plz…


End file.
